June 17th
One of the reasons I changed my internet provider was because they’d give me a wireless router which means I can go anywhere in the house with my iBook. Maybe it’s just me thrill seeking a bit but I’ve always wanted to write an Arseblog post while having a poo. Technically I could do that now, I suppose, but it’d be just a bit messy. Yesterday evening I went out with my laptop and sat outside at a bar and had a coffee and a fizzy water, no really, to catch up with my emails because modemy internet is just too slow. It’s amazing how many wifi networks you can pick up and piggyback for as long as you want. Sadly all the networks in my apartment building appear to be password protected so I can’t steal their internet. Stupid slefish bastard neighbours and a big thanks to ‘Juanjo’ on Passeig Sant Joan whose network I slowed to a crawl for an hour last night enjoying my first ever outdoor interweb experience.
On to more serious things and the Robin van Persie story dominates yet again and he’s going to spend another 14 days in custody after yesterday’s court hearing. In a statement the Dutch prosecutors office said “The public prosecutors office has asked for the custody to be prolonged in the interest of the investigation and because of the seriousness of the charges.”
It has now emerged that he was in the hotel room with the girl but denies rape. His lawyer says “He’s not denying he was in the room. He is denying he raped the girl. I cannot comment if he had sex with her.”
Some people have had a go at the club for not making a statement supporting the player. It’s a tough one to be honest. Any outright declaration of support would look rather foolish if it the charges against him were found to be true. What I would say is that the club may not be making public statements but you can be sure that in private they’ll be doing whatever they can for the player. Silence does not mean they’ve abandoned him, it means they’re being consistent as this was exactly the same way they dealt with Graham Stack when the charges were brought against him and I’m sure that this would be their modus opperandi if it were any player and I mean any player. The Dutch authorities obviously feel they have a serious case on their hands, making statements without knowing the full details would not be in anyone’s interest, least of all Robin van Persie. When the time is right we’ll hear from the club. In the meantime we wait.
Elsewhere the Brazilian club we bought Gilberto from have told how Arsenal acted properly during the transfer. Their President said “I can confirm that Arsenal complied with all the rules and all the negotiations for the player were held exclusively between the two clubs.”
Rennes have denied Arsenal have made a bid for Swedish keeper Andreas Isaakson and insist he’ll be staying for at least another season with them. Arsenal won’t sell Ashley Cole (who proposed to his pop-star girlfriend after a ‘romantic camel ride’)this summer according to the Mirror with Arsene Wenger saying “We must make sure he’s back with us with full commitment and complete focus on success”, while it appears contract talks with Robert Pires have broken down with the player wanting a two year deal and the club only willing to offer one with an option for another year. As he’s actually got another year to go on his current deal I don’t think a year on top of that is too bad for a player heading into his thirties. Does the fact that he had a large number of family and friends at one of the final home games this season tell us anything?
The much talked about move for Alecksander Hleb seems to be on the back burner with Stuttgart confirming we’ve made an offer but they rejected it out of hand.
And that’s all I’ve got. The final day of my working week and it was hard getting up this morning, especially when my flamenco tuned alarm went off. How I didn’t throw it out the window I’ll never know. Till tomorrow.
